The Teachings of War

        Paul and his classmates are reminiscing about how much their lives have changed since entering the war. They talk about their old class, and before long start making fun Kantorek, their old teacher. They each start repeating questions that he has asked the class before, or phrases he has said. During this interaction, they realize that the information that they were taught at school is practically useless now that they are in the war. They can no longer remember the answers to any of the questions that he asked them, and they cannot find the usefulness in any of them anyways.
       They now believe that the only useful information they will ever need are things like "how to light a cigarette in a storm of rain, how a fire could be made with wet wood, or that it is best to stick a bayonet in the belly because there it doesn't get jammed, as it does in the ribs." Things like how to better smoke, stay alive, and kill a man are the main things they now know, and the information they prove worthy. It is slightly ironic because their teacher tried to teach them all the information he deemed important, and he is also the reason they enlisted into the war, which is the reason that now have forgotten his teachings.
       It also demonstrates how they are practically laughing at him now, like he is a fool in thinking those facts he taught them, for thinking they would ever be useful. It's as though the roles have switched, and they are now the old ones with all the knowledge, and he is the one that needs teaching. The war has made them only think in terms of the war, and nothing else.